Kochi: The southern Indian state of Kerala, celebrated as “God’s Own Country” for its pristine beaches, verdant tea plantations and breathtaking natural beauty, is set to receive a new official name.
After years of discussion, resolutions and constitutional procedures, the proposed change of Kerala’s name to Keralam has crossed its biggest hurdle.
Parliament has now passed the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026. The Lok Sabha cleared the Bill on August 11, followed by the Rajya Sabha on August 12.
The legislation now awaits President Droupadi Murmu’s assent. Once the President gives assent and the law comes into force, the state will officially be known as Keralam in the constitutional and official records.
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How does a state actually change its name?
Changing the name of an Indian state is not something a state government can do on its own.
Changing the name of a state is a constitutional process, but it is different from a formal constitutional amendment under Article 368.
The power comes from Article 3 of the Constitution of India, which allows Parliament to alter the name, area or boundaries of a state.
There are several stages:
1. The state first makes its demand
In Kerala's case, the process began in the state legislature.
The Kerala Assembly first passed a unanimous resolution seeking the change on August 9, 2023.
However, that resolution had a technical problem.
It sought changes involving both the First Schedule and the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. The First Schedule contains the names of the states and Union Territories, while the Eighth Schedule deals with recognised languages.
The Union Home Ministry pointed out that changing a state's name required action in the First Schedule. The Kerala government therefore brought a corrected resolution a year later.
On June 24, 2024, the Kerala Assembly unanimously passed the revised resolution asking the Centre to change the state's name from Kerala to Keralam.
2. The Union Cabinet takes up the proposal
After receiving the corrected resolution, the Union Government examined the proposal.
The next major milestone came on February 24, 2026, when the Union Cabinet approved the proposal to alter the name of the state from Kerala to Keralam.
The Cabinet approval, however, did not itself rename the state.
It started the next stage of the Article 3 procedure.
The government's own announcement explained that, after Cabinet approval, the President would refer the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 to the Kerala Legislative Assembly to obtain its views.
3. The President sends the Bill to the State Assembly
This is one of the less understood parts of the process.
Under Article 3, a Bill seeking to alter the name of a state cannot simply be introduced in Parliament immediately.
The President first refers the proposal to the concerned state legislature and asks it to express its views within a specified period.
In this case, President Droupadi Murmu referred the Bill to the Kerala Assembly on June 17, 2026.
The Assembly subsequently took up the proposal, with political parties once again presenting a united front.
On July 1, 2026, the Kerala Legislative Assembly unanimously approved all 10 clauses of the draft Bill. Members across the UDF, LDF and NDA backed the proposal.
The Assembly's role here is to express its views. Its approval is politically significant, but Article 3 does not give the state legislature a veto over Parliament.
4. The Bill goes to Parliament
Once the state legislature's views are obtained, the Union Government can move ahead with the Bill.
The Bill then has to be passed by both Houses of Parliament. This is where the proposal has now reached its most important milestone.
The Lok Sabha passed the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 on August 11. The Rajya Sabha followed on August 12, passing the legislation by voice vote.
With both Houses having approved it, the parliamentary stage is complete.
5. The final step
Once the Bill has been passed by both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, it is presented to the President of India for assent. This is the final formal step in the parliamentary process of changing the name of a state.
Once the President gives assent, the Bill becomes an Act of Parliament. The change from “Kerala” to “Keralam” then takes legal effect from the date specified in the Act.
From that date, Keralam becomes the state's official name in government and constitutional records. The change would subsequently be reflected across official documents, government communications and other records, bringing the English official name in line with the Malayalam name Keralam.
Kerala to Keralam: Why the state wants a name change
The simplest answer is language and identity.
Kerala's own official language is Malayalam, and in Malayalam the state is known as Keralam.
Historians and officials noted that "Kerala" is a colonial-era spelling that became entrenched in official records during British rule. The change to "Keralam" is viewed as a shift from a "British colonial connotation to a Malayalam linguistic connotation," restoring the state's historical identity.
The Kerala Assembly has argued that this is not about inventing a different name for the state. It is about ensuring that the official constitutional name reflects the name used in the state's own language.
The 2024 resolution pointed to the history of Kerala's formation as a Malayalam-speaking state. The demand for a united Malayalam-speaking Kerala had developed during the freedom movement, and the state was eventually formed on November 1, 1956, through the reorganisation of states largely along linguistic lines.
That date is now celebrated as Kerala Piravi, the birthday of the state.
There is, therefore, a certain irony in the story.
Kerala was created specifically as a state representing Malayalam-speaking people, yet its constitutional name remained the anglicised “Kerala” while Malayalis continued to call it “Keralam”.
The current proposal is intended to close that gap.
Then why did Kerala wait nearly 70 years?
This is probably the biggest question surrounding the proposal.
If Kerala became a state in 1956, why was the constitutional name not corrected then?
The important thing to remember is that the demand is not necessarily 70 years old in the form of a continuous legislative campaign.
The issue has surfaced periodically, but it did not move through the constitutional process until the recent resolutions.
When the Assembly formally took up the issue in 2023, the initial proposal failed to move forward due to a drafting error.
What will actually change once ‘Keralam’ becomes official?
For common man, the immediate impact of the name change is expected to be limited. The state’s districts, capital, government institutions and geographical boundaries will remain unchanged.
The change will primarily apply to the state’s official name in constitutional, legal and government records. Once implemented, official documents, government websites, stationery, signage and other records will gradually be updated to reflect the name Keralam.
The transition is therefore expected to involve both administrative changes and symbolic significance.
